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kqueue: I found many similarities between Isaac Vainio and Harry Dresden. Both are cynical, powerful, heroes with a dark sense of humor, who are on the fringes of their official organization but are called in to save the day. Both books feature many mythical creatures, and have a good versus evil theme in a fast-paced adventure.… (more)

I loved this book so hard early on. I wanted to keep on loving it. I wanted to love it enough to read the entire series. It's sad that it's not working out that way.

The concept is awesome. Pulling magic out of books, and not just sci-fi/fantasy. Chlorine gas from a history book--okay, in retrospect it might have been even cooler if there'd been just a bit more variation out of spec fiction. Still, overall, awesome.

And then, it happens. The Gor sex slave character. And still I could have let that go, except the end takes that part of the story and rubs it hard into your face. I feel sure that if that aspect of the story continues in the next book, it's going to override enjoyment of the rest of it (which will no longer be so new and exciting) and ruin the whole thing for me.

So I loved this, I'm certainly not sorry I read it, but I'm disappointed. And I'm starting to wonder why I can't find an urban fantasy series written by a guy that doesn't flirt with offensive stereotypes as much as they do. I guess I'll have to keep looking. ( )

I think my favourite bit was actually the bibliography included in the end where some entirely made up books were included - mostly titles I'd thought I hadn't read/come across as I'd enjoyed the novel. All of the others are fairly mainstream so anybody reasonably well versed in genre fiction will have heard of them, which is sufficient for the plot.

Issac Vainio has been forcibly retired form active magical duty - he was found to take too many risks, not just to himself but that magic might become public knowledge. He has found a little solace in a secluded library, where his most onerous tasks are identifying newly published books that could contain items capable of causing havoc when transferred to our world. For that is what Libromancy is the ability (a mix of genetics and skill and desire) to reach into books, any book in which there is a sufficient belief, and make it real. The only slight limitation appears to be that you have to get the item out through the covers of the book, so it's limited to handsized things, more or less. Libromancers aren't the only magical beings though, the undead feature heavily thanks to Meyers et al, and there are even a few true sorcerers. Issac misses his former magic, but is resigned to the quiet life, and hence more than slightly surprised when three vampires march down the street and attack him. Working in a library does provide the possibilities of defence, and he holds his own until help arrives in the form of a dryad - hard as oak. Together they investigate why the cordial truce they have with the undead has apparently broken, and what this means for peace with the rest of humanity - for as ever normal humans can win any war just by throwing enough people at it.

It's good to have limits on what your magic system can do, and there are limits here, they just need to be slightly clearer, otherwise the reader is left unsure what would be a internally consistent restriction, and which is just duex et machina from the author. ( )

What is Libriomancy? The ability to reach into books and magically pull out items we want. Is it safe? Decidedly not. Isaac is a libriomancer called upon to potentially save the world, from what he is not sure. He has the help of a dryad and a fire-spider, but will they be enough?

Fun stuff, written with a fast pace, until you reach the parts where the author gets carried away with the details. Not a big deal, and I'm sure those who really want to understand the nitty-gritty of how magic systems work appreciate it. I enjoyed the way Isaac reached into books for something, frequently not telling us precisely which book it was, yet we knew because of either the item, what he said about it, or how he used it. ( )

Some people would say it's a bad idea to bring a fire-spider into a public library.

Quotations

I cleared the screen. I couldn't count the number of times I had helped patrons track down ancestors on genealogy sites or locate long-lost classmates, and I had found books with far less information than a character's name. I was a pretty good libriomancer, but I was a damn good librarian.

Last words

What else awaited us, I didn't know . . . but there was magic out there, and I intended to explore it all.

Wikipedia in English (1)

Gifted with the ability to draw objects out of books, Isacc Vainio, a Libriomancer, seeks assistance from a Harley-riding dryad after a number of vampire attacks are reported by other members of his secret, magic organization.